Marian University: Communications Programs

Situation

In working to grow enrollment, Marian University identified a handful of programs that were already both highly popular and highly successful, and worked to capitalize on the momentum of those programs. One of those was the Communications program, which was led by a innovative and engaging faculty member who was eager to be involved in the recruitment process.

Solution

We partnered with this faculty member to identify knowledge gaps and opportunities in the target population he was recruiting, and then we built an educational recruitment material for each of these. We designed a handout for each that served several functions. It provided an agenda or a curriculum for an experiential interaction with prospective students, and was flexible such that it could be a one-on-one experience or a group presentation. The engagement could be brief, reviewing the content in just a few minutes or spanning an entire workshop, and the handout gave each participant a chance to work further on the topic. Of course, each handout was carefully branded with the logo and website of the university, and wasted no space on promotional material that the student might not yet care about. We let the value of the content do the selling! And the value of each piece is what gave it staying power so that students would continually see the branding of the university. The engagements were as follows:

• Choosing a major: Many pre-college students are intimidated or overwhelmed about the idea of choosing a major. It seems like such a big life decision! The piece The Academic Journey: an Appreciative Inquiry walked students through how to conduct an “inquiry,” or a reflective process that guided them in choosing a major.

• Making big decisions: In fact this period of time is one of many big life decisions, and for young students these are often the first decisions they’re making with long-term consequences. The piece How to Make a Big Decision: The Tradition of the Examen outlined the traditional process of self-reflection known as the “examen” that can guide students through this process.

• Engaging in civil discourse: In a similar vein, this period is often the first time that many students become aware of the increasing stake of engaging in difficult conversation with people who disagree with them. The piece Dialogue gave them a powerful frame, outlining What is Dialogue and How Do We Dialogue.

Solution

Thanks to our ability to capture the unique and proprietary approach to decision-making, dialogue, and student engagement used by this professor, we were able to equip him and his entire department in more engaged student recruitment, thus building on the momentum of the program and increasing even further the reputation of the entire university.